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Thursday, September 8, 2016

MonoSystems Snapstrip SS26-P 6-Outlet Power Strip Review

Aloha!

If you have anything to do with modern music, you are going to need some sort of power strip to plug all of your stuff into, and chances are good that most of the products out there just do not do the job very well for you. It does not matter if you are on the stage, rehearsing, recording, or fixing guitars on the workbench, most generic power strips have outlets that are too close together, so any device with a wall wart will hog more than one outlet.

I have grumbled about this for years, until I saw a 4-foot power strip with 12 outlets spaced really far apart; I thought it was cool, until I asked where they bought it. Turns out they got it from Harbor Freight, the world’s largest purveyor of dangerous and disposable tools. But I figured there must be other companies out there making similar products, and after a little searching I found the MonoSystems Snapstrip SSC26-P, and I like it a lot!

MonoSystems is not a fly-by-night outfit, as they have been around for 50 years serving electrical contractors, who are their main customers. Besides making all manner of things for electrical installations, they also have a good line-up of corded and hard-wired power strips.

The SnapStrip SS26-P is 26 inches long with 6 outlets and a 6-foot cord, and it is actually made of metal, not some sort of space-age polymer. The outlets seem to be good quality and they are arranged perpendicular to the strip itself. It has a built-in 15-amp breaker that I have not tripped yet, though I have heard that this may be a one shot deal – when it blows the strip has to be replaced. The biggest downside to this unit is that to permanently mount it to a surface, screws have to be driven into the surface and then the strip has to be hung from them. I would prefer tabs that allow the screws to be more securely driven through the unit, but I only use it to plug my studio amplifier into, so it just sits on the floor. It does not really add any noise to my amps, which is an added bonus.

Despite these few downsides to the MonoSytems SnapStrip SS26-P, I think it is still a good value, and that is because it comes in at a very reasonable price. These sell for about $25 at Lowe’s, and somehow they are more expensive from Amazon ($40), which does not happen very often. If you do order one, make sure you choose the one that has a cord attached, as they also make a cheaper hard-wired version for permanent installations. If you need something a little bit bigger, they also make a 40-inch six outlet version (SSC40) and a 52-inch eight outlet version (SSC52).